Building Regulations and Your Flooring Project

Posted on 31 August 2017

Floors are a part of your home that do a lot of work. They have to be able to cope with heavy furniture, appliances and foot traffic. So it’s important to make sure that your flooring is strong and safe.

Building regulations exist to help you do that. They’re also rules that you legally have to follow. Keep reading to find out more about building regulations and what they say about flooring.

What are building regulations?

Building regulations are a set of rules that apply to most structures in the UK. They exist to ensure buildings are safe, accessible and relatively energy-efficient. If you don’t follow any relevant building regulations when building or altering a structure, you can get into trouble with your local authority and may have to reverse the work. So it’s important to make sure you know about them.

Whatever work you do needs to follow any relevant building regulations. But there are some jobs that also require building regulations approval. This is when your local authority needs to be notified of the work you’re going to do before you do it.

What do building regulations say about flooring?

Building regulations say that flooring needs to be:

Strong enough to support its users, contents and own weight

If a ground floor, resistant to ground moisture and heat loss

So if you’re building a new floor, you’ll need to make sure that the materials and design you use will make it strong and secure. You’ll also need to ensure it has adequate damp proofing and insulation.

How do I make sure that my flooring follows building regulations?

An easy way to make sure that your flooring follows building regulations is to hire a professional registered with a relevant competent person scheme. They will make sure that your project complies with building regulations and notify your local authority if necessary.

Another option is to do the work yourself, particularly if it’s just a case of replacing flooring rather than building a whole new one. However, it’s important to remember that it’s your job to make sure your flooring is legal and to get building regulations approval if necessary.

Whether you need building regulations approval for your flooring generally depends on the individual project. You can get further advice from your local authority, whose contact details you can find through your local council’s website.